The present invention relates to patient support apparatuses, such as hospital beds or stretchers, that include a head section pivotable between a generally horizontal orientation and a raised orientation, and more particularly, the present invention relates to patient support apparatuses that are configured to allow the head section to pivot to the horizontal orientation quickly in an emergency situation, such as when CPR is desired to be administered to a patient on the bed.
Patient support apparatuses are often designed and built so that they can be adjusted to a variety of different orientations. In one orientation, the surface of the bed is generally flat, and the patient lies horizontally on his or her back or stomach. In another orientation, the surface of the bed is pivoted upwardly in the area of the patient's torso so that the patient sits up, either partially or wholly. In other orientations, the portion of the bed underneath the patient's legs and seat area may be pivoted to a variety of different angles. The different orientations of the bed may be selected for a variety of different reasons, including patient comfort, treatment, therapy, cleaning, and other reasons.
Regardless of the reasons for pivoting the sections of the bed to different orientations, it is desirable to quickly lower the head section of the bed to a flat orientation in an emergency situation requiring CPR. Because CPR requires compression of a patient's chest, it is more easily and effectively accomplished while the patient's torso is lying flat, rather than tilted upwardly at an angle. Further, because time is of the essence in emergency CPR situations, it is desirable for the bed to be easily and promptly adjusted so that the patient's torso moves quickly to the horizontal orientation.